Popularity of camping drives sales of portable power banks for outdoor activities in China

People camp at a scenic area in Wuyi County of east China's Zhejiang Province, May 2, 2022. (Photo by Zhang Jiancheng/Xinhua)

The rising popularity of camping, road trips, and short-distance tours has boosted sales of China’s portable power banks used for outdoor activities.

Power banks are portable chargers for smartphones, tablets, electric cookers, and other electronic appliances used during outdoor activities, as well as for entertainment devices such as unmanned aerial vehicles and loudspeakers.

Portable power banks for outdoor activities can also be used in scenarios that include fishing at night, night markets, and outdoor live-streaming sessions. Besides, they have a large battery capacity and multiple input and output ports. Therefore, they have continued to gain popularity among consumers.

Data from a Chinese e-commerce platform showed that the sales volume of portable power banks used for outdoor activities increased over tenfold year-on-year during the mid-year shopping festival known as “618” that lasted from May 23 to June 18 this year.

The price of portable power banks used for outdoor activities sold on the platform ranges from several hundred yuan (1 yuan = $0.15) to less than 100,000 yuan. Medium- and high-end portable power banks used for outdoor activities with a price ranging from 4,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan were the best sellers.

Many enterprises have entered the market for portable power banks used for outdoor activities, which has significantly expanded the production capacity in China for portable power banks used for outdoor activities.

According to statistics, China has over 20,000 enterprises associated with the production of portable power banks so far, 57.3 percent of which were founded in the most recent five years. In particular, the average growth rate for newly registered enterprises associated with the production of portable power banks reached 16.3 percent between 2019 and 2021.

Shipments of China’s portable power banks used for outdoor activities now account for more than 90 percent of the world’s total, said Xu Jiqiang, chairman of the board of supervisors for China Energy Storage Alliance.

The market size of the country’s portable power banks used for outdoor activities is expected to hit about 80 billion yuan in the coming four or five years, Xu added.